The
DePue Brothers Band is neither all brothers nor a full-time band. It isn’t really
a classical group, a bluegrass group or jazz group. They’re friends and
brothers, master musicians of multiple genres who love to jam in front of a
crowd, and they’re coming to Pitt-Bradford this
week.

Violinists
Wallace and Jason DePue, drummer Don Liuzzi, guitarist Mark Cosgrove, bassist
Kevin MacConnell and banjo player Mike Munford occasionally drop their day jobs
playing with the Philly Pops or the Philadelphia Orchestra, touring or
recording solo CDs to tour as the DePue Brothers. The group recorded its first
CD, “Weapons of Grass Construction,” in 2010.

Audiences
can expect to hear Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” from “Appalachian Spring Rodeo,”
the jazz standard “Sweet Georgia Brown” and J.S. Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s
Desiring” played with a vibraphone, along with bluegrass standards such as the
“Orange Blossom Special” and “Little Brown Jug” and original folk-rock inspired
songs written by various members of the band.

“The
main thread is that the violins are the feature,” said percussionist and
manager Liuzzi. “Wallace and Jason’s ability to play in many genres is what
fuels the band.”

Whileit
is challenging for the band to find a niche, the band has found one among those
who appreciate great musicianship in any genre. It’s been featured on National
Public Radio’s “Mountain Stage” and at Philadelphia’s World Café Live.

The
DePues who play with the band are two of four DePue Brothers who grew up in
Ohio, where their father was a composer and taught piano, theory and
composition at Bowling Green State University. With a mother as a musician
also, it was no surprise that oldest brother Wallace had a violin in his hand
early on.

As each brother grew
old enough to begin playing, he opted not to fill out the parts of a string
quartet. Fired by brotherly rivalry, each wanted to be better at the violin
than the others.

As they got older,
summers were filled with camping trips to fiddle competitions, and they started
to make some money with their bows (no doubt there was a cuteness factor with four
little brother fiddlers).

“They all got really
interested in bluegrass,” Liuzzi said, “and each has a proficiency in both.
They are equally great in the bluegrass band and the classical world.”

Rounding out the
bluegrass sound are Cosgrove, a national flat-picking champion on the guitar,
and Munford, who Liuzzi says is “quietly known in the banjo world as one of the
great players. Munford has been on three U.S. State Department tours to Central
Asia and most recently toured again throughout Australia and Japan.

Percussionist Liuzzi,
who got to know Jason DePue through the Philadelphia Orchestra, for which they
both play, adds a folk rock element with his original compositions. Jazz and
blues touches are added by bassist MacConnell, who has performed with Mel
Torme, Natalie Cole and Dihann Carol.

For more information or tickets, contact the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office at (814)362-5113 or showtix@pitt.edu.

For disability-related
needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at (814)362-7609
or clh71@pitt.edu.